University of Leicester launches first museum studies Mooc

The University of Leicester has unveiled the world’s first museum studies Massive Open Online Course (Mooc) in partnership with National Museums Liverpool (NML).

Moocs are online courses aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. The Behind the Scenes at the 21st Century Museum Mooc, developed by Leicester’s School of Museum Studies and NML, will comprise a six-week course of two hours a week. People can sign up from today and the course starts on 1 June.

“The Mooc is a new departure for the school but something that we were very keen to do,” said Suzanne MacLeod, the director and head of school at Leicester. “The ways in which people want to learn are changing and we wanted to understand more about that.

“The Mooc has enabled us to experiment with new ways of delivering teaching and research. It is something of an experiment and so we are intrigued to see how people respond to the Mooc and to get their feedback.”

MacLeod said the content of the Mooc is based on collaboration between the university and NML. She added that the aim was to provide those new to the field and established professionals with informative and engaging content.

“The idea of this Mooc is really intriguing,” said NML director David Fleming. “It gets our message out there about our commitment to running a modern museum service for diverse audiences and it reaches a whole new audience worldwide.”

The Mooc will cover areas such as the role and purpose of museums; audiences and visitors; and the role museums can play in areas such as social justice, health and wellbeing.

The University of Leicester has already developed Moocs, including one about Richard III.

The museum studies Mooc will be delivered through the Future Learn platform.